# What is the minimum offense to prohibit one from holding US office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 22, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204 "2022-01-22T00:43:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/1 "2022-01-22T00:43:06Z")
Obviously the potus is the issue. But there are others who need to be challenged and the environment is target rich right now, It feels like a race to make this happen but I don’t know how it may be done. If dt is as guilty as the evidence suggests then it should be possible to, if we are going to have a civil war, at least to do it on a more level playing field. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/2 "2022-01-22T00:51:20Z")
This site indicates that being convicted of a crime doesn’t disqualify one from running for (or holding the office of) President of the United States. > [@](#): > > Yes, a person convicted of a felony can run for the office of President of the United States of America. The reason for this is that no part of the constitution prohibits a felon from contesting. The constitution spells out that all you have to do to become the president is to be 35 years old, a native-born American, be a resident of America. Also, he can only serve two terms of 4 years each at the maximum. But if he or she has already served up to two years of another person’s tenure, he or she can only go for one more term of 4 years thus meaning that he or she can only serve 6 years maximum. The only major negative effect of being convicted as a felon is that it hurts your character and this can be leveraged upon by your opponents. When it comes to the state level, the answer is “it depends on the state.” > [@](#): > > When it comes to the issue of felons running for public office, it is subject to the state that is in question. Some states impose rather strict restrictions on people who have a conviction for felony while others do not. There are also varied responses in the manner with which the states handle such issues. Some states allow felons whose offense was ten years and above to run for office. > > Some other states insist that anybody that is convicted of a crime that has to do with moral turpitude may not be allowed to contest for the position. Issues of moral turpitude include deceit, lying, fraudulent receipt of public funds or issues of defaulting on financial responsibilities. > > For instance, the state of Texas indicates that anyone that has a conviction for bribery, forgery, perjury, and other high crimes may be excluded from holding public office. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, holds that anyone that has been convicted of a crime about moral turpitude may not be allowed to hold office. The only exception to this is if the person has had his or her rights restored and ten years must have elapsed after the sentence. They must also not have been convicted of moral turpitude or crime. > **[Can A Felon Run For President? - The Freeman Online](https://www.thefreemanonline.org/can-a-felon-run-for-president/)** > > Can a felon run for president? Yes, a person convicted of a felony can run for the office of President of the United States of America. The reason for..... ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/3 "2022-01-22T00:59:11Z")
I don’t think there should be an automatic prohibition towards running for public office, since the voters can decide whether the crime should be disqualifying. Plus you can run into issues where people convicted of unjust laws (like, say, marijuana possession) are then prevented from running for office to fix those laws. This is also a reason that felony disenfranchisement/loss of voting rights is unjust and hazardous to a just society. I suppose I might be able to get behind a law that prohibits low level positions from being filled by people who had corruption-related charges, but it would have to be pretty specific. As far as something like the presidency goes - the public will be well aware of the criminal history and make their own decision. Unfortunately, after Trump set the bar as low as possible, I’m not sure there’s any crime a republican can be guilty of that would be disqualifying (other than, of course, not following the party line) whereas a democrat with an absolutely spotless record would never bolster their appeal among republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/4 "2022-01-22T07:36:07Z")
Insurrectionists cannot be a member of Congress. The 14th Amendment, Section 3 states: > [@14th Amendment Section 3 as quoted in New York Times](#): > > “No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress … who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” A movement is afoot to challenge Madison Cawthorn from running for re-election because of this. They hope to expand the movement to challenge all the other members of Congress who participated in the insurrection. The challenges for them will be (a) defining exactly what behaviors constitute insurrection for purposes of this, and then (b) figuring out just what degree of proof is needed to nix a candidate, and then (c) proving that. In the case of North Carolina, it apparently doesn’t necessarily take a conviction of insurrection in a court of law to deep-six a candidate. According to the NYT article, it requires the challenger to establish some sort of significant suspicion, at which point the burden of proof shifts to the candidate to show that he did not engage in insurrection. > **[Opinion | Will Madison Cawthorn Be Brought Down by ‘Insurrection’? (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/opinion/14th-amendment-madison-cawthorn.html)** > > Why a section of the 14th Amendment could offer a challenge to some Republicans running for the House this year. > [@](#): > > Under North Carolina law, once challengers advance enough evidence to show reasonable suspicion that a candidate is not qualified, the burden shifts to the would-be candidate to demonstrate the contrary. * * * ETA: If you find the above NYT article paywalled, you can also find a summary of it at Raw Story: > **['No joke': Legal expert warns Madison Cawthorn 'being too quick to scoff' at...](https://www.rawstory.com/madison-cawthorn-insurrection-2656447615/)** > > Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has brushed off a legal challenge to his eligibility to run for re-election, but one expert cautioned the lawmaker not to dismiss the complaint so easily.Voters in North Carolina challenged Cawthorn's candidacy based on a... ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/5 "2022-01-22T12:31:00Z")
In a lot of places in the US, being atheist bars one from holding public office. > **[There are states where you technically can’t hold public office if you’re an...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/07/08/there-are-states-where-you-technically-cant-hold-public-office-if-youre-an-atheist/)** > > Eight state constitutions have various restrictions about people who don't declare a belief in a supreme being. I think there’s a SCOTUS decision that may prevent enforcing this (?), but there may also be a practical prohibition based on public opinion. Not sure what to say about all that… ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/6 "2022-01-22T15:44:10Z")
Well insurrectionism is the major problem in our population set. Can one run for office from prison? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-offense-to-prohibit-one-from-holding-us-office/958204/7 "2022-01-22T15:52:10Z")
It’s been done. Eugene Debs got 3.4 percent of the vote in 1920 while campaigning from prison - not bad (more than twice the vote percentage of all the third party candidates in 2020, together)